Plans progress for ‘Last Dance’ Tournament this summer
With the entry deadline behind them, the organizers of the New Jersey “Last Dance” Tournament sanctioned by the United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) moved forward with their plans this week.
This high school baseball summer tourney for players who were in grades 9-12 during the 201920 school year will feature teams whose rosters will resemble those of N.J. high school squads that missed out on a chance to play this spring because of the coronavirus outbreak. The event is not sanctioned by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.
There was a bump in the road Friday, but, for now at least, it is simply seen as one more obstacle to be overcome.
After some 200 teams entered, the tournament’s start dates were pushed back a week Thursday. That was not seen as a problem since it still allows the tournament to finish by the end of July, which marks the completion of the
NCAA’s recruiting dead period.
A more difficult hiccup in their plans came Friday when the NJSIAA provided updated, returnto-play guidelines in which it announced that “it is aiming to open summer workouts — formally known as the ‘summer recess period’ — on or around Monday, July 13.”
While that is a minor problem because school facilities officially may not be usable until at least then, the bigger concern came when the NJSIAA noted that “coaches may continue virtual contact with players until the summer recess period officially begins.”
That may sound like a positive, yet it means coaches cannot have in-person contact during that time, which makes things a little tougher when your team is trying to prepare for a tournament.
“We pushed pool play to July 14-16 prior to this announcement,” said St. Joseph’s of Metuchen athletic director and baseball coach Mike Murray Jr., one of the “Last Dance” creators. “I am having a zoom meeting with the coaches on Monday evening to see how we go about getting teams ready if we can’t coach our teams.”
That probably will not be as big an issue as it sounds since most teams have parents and/or unpaid assistants who could fill in until the regular coaches are allowed contact.
Murray took the news in stride, saying, “Hopefully, some good news. Today was our first setback since we’ve been trying to make this happen.”
Besides Friday’s news, the tournament and organized youth sports, which are allowed to begin practices Monday, July 22, are still awaiting health department guidelines for their returns. The Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health Judith Persichilli said in Friday’s state press conference that those details should be forthcoming this weekend.
The NJSIAA, meanwhile, said that it “anticipates providing member schools with specific guidelines, in compliance with the New Jersey Department of Education (DOE), New Jersey Department of Health (DOH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, on or before June 19.”
From there, it would be up to individual school districts to determine when summer workouts can begin.
That will not keep the New Jersey “Last Dance” Tournament sanctioned by the USSSA from going ahead with its plans.
To date, at least 15 teams from The Trentonian’s coverage area are said to be among the participants, who will not officially be named until they register by the middle of next week. Jersey Sports Zone is preparing to announce the “Last Dance” brackets online June 22.
Currently, the tournament field looks to be 192 teams, so there can be six squads playing at 32 sites statewide during pool play July 14-16. Separate tournaments will be held in North and South Jersey. Teams will get at least three games in pool play.
After pool play, single-elimination rounds of 16 (North and South) will be held July 21 with single-elimination rounds of 8 (North and South) to follow July 22 or 23. The North & South Final Fours would now be July 28 with the North & South Finals to follow July 29. A state title game, at a yet-to-be-determined neutral site, would be held July 30.